Forever More
by Chimei
Summary: 'Forever More,' said the note on the front of the heavy parchment envelope. A scraggly heart was scribbled beside it. Ever smiled at the twins' horrible pun-it had taken them seven years to make it, she'd give them that much-and flipped the envelope open. [Rated M for later chapters. I don't own Harry Potter.]
1. Chapter 1

"Moore, Ever."

A little first year, like most others- nervous, fidgeting- scampered out of the throng and up to the stool where the next seven years of her life would be put on track. McGonagall looked at her, not unkindly, and she shoved her nerves away as best she could and flopped down on the stool. The hat dropped down over her eyes, and the hall settled into silent anticipation.

The hat murmured- _murmured!- _but she couldn't catch any of what it was saying. Ten seconds passed...fifteen...

"GRYFFINDOR!"

One table- the one on the far left- burst into cheers, while the other three doled out polite applause. Face bright red, Ever handed the hat back to the professor and scrambled down to the Lions' table, finding a free spot by a red head splattered with freckles, maybe a couple of years older, and an even bigger boy across from her who looked a lot like him.

"Knowing them," the younger of the two was muttering, "they'll get sorted into Slytherin." Ever glanced across the hall at the green and silver clad table.

"What's so bad about that?" she plucked up the courage to ask. The bigger boy- he had a badge pinned to the front of his robes, one with a P on it- blinked down at her, obviously surprised, and she immediately wished she hadn't spoken.

"Well...let's just say they have a bad reputation," the younger boy hedged, shooting a glance at the table across the room.

"Come off it, Perce." To Ever: "They're the world's biggest prats."

"Not all of them are so bad," the first boy said judiciously, but the older boy ignored him.

"There's not a witch or wizard that's gone bad that wasn't in Slytherin," he announced.

"That's _definitely _not true," the younger said sharply, and turned to the first year girl. "Even Hufflepuff's got its share of bad eggs, there's-"

"Weasley, Fred."

"Shhh," hissed the older boy. The first year jammed the hat down eagerly over his eyes. It had barely been there a second before...

"GRYFFINDOR!" The younger boy's groan was quickly drowned out by the wild cheers of the older one, along with most of the rest of the house- the first years sat shyly clapping. Fred flopped down beside Ever, graciously shook the hand the older red head offered, and then gave his rapt attention to the front of the hall.

"Weasley, George." The hall went silent for a moment, and then there was a sigh as realization swept through it: twins. the boy making his way to the stool was identical in every way to the boy sitting by Ever- the ginger hair flopping over his forehead, freckles across his cheeks and nose in just the same way, and, though she couldn't see his eyes, she was sure they were the exact same shade of chocolate brown as the brother sitting beside her.

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Again, Gryffindor table- with the exception of most of the first years-exploded into cheers. Fred Weasley whooped the loudest of all. George sprinted down to throw an arm around the shoulder of his grinning twin, shook the offered hand like Fred before him, and took his seat.

Two more first years were sorted- one Ravenclaw and one Slytherin- before Dumbledore stood, tapping his goblet with his wand. A crisp, clear ring-it had to be magnified by magic, Ever thought- rang through the Great Hall, catching the attention of all.

"I know you're quite hungry," said the man, "so I won't keep you long from your supper. Just remember, as always, that the Forbidden Forrest is, of course, forbidden." There was a merry twinkle in the old man's eye, a tug of a smile at the corner of his mouth. Food appeared on the plates as he sat. Ever blinked up at the table.

"That's all he's gonna say?"

"He usually keeps it really short and sweet, 'cause he knows we're hungry and won't pay attention," the prefect explained, heaping chicken onto his plate. Ever followed his lead with a leg of turkey and some toast, nibbling on the corner of the bread nervously. There were a few relatively quiet moments while she plucked up the courage to ask another question.

"So you're _all _brothers?" she finally managed. The oldest nodded, held up a finger- 'hold on'- and swallowed his mouthful of pasta.

"Yeah," he said, taking a sip of pumpkin juice. "I'm the oldest at school, but we have an older brother and-"

"Ickle Ronnie," one twin, the one beside her-that _had_ been Fred, hadn't it?-piped up.

"And ickle Ginny," the other twin added.

"That's George," said the first.

"He's Fred," the second announced.

"I'm Charlie," the oldest said dryly, watching his younger brothers scarf down chicken and mashed potatoes and macaroni, along with anything else in arm's reach. "And he's Percy." The prefect nodded to the brother in the middle, who was nibbling on a cracker and reading a book the first year girl couldn't see the title of.

"I'm Ever," she mumbled, trying to keep all their names straight; she had never been good with names-it was faces that stuck out to her. Charlie's expression was open and honest, with a tinge of annoyance- or was it amusement? Maybe both- at the twins' bad table manners, but Ever couldn't blame them for gorging themselves. She'd never seen that much food in her life. Percy's face was drawn and there was definitely _some _emotion there, but she couldn't tell if he was angry or just trying to concentrate on his text. The twins were frank and open and had an unapologetic attitude that appealed to her immensely.

"Nice to meet you," Charlie replied, nodding to the girl. "Welcome to Gryffindor. Now, dig in."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I meant to put this in the first chapter, but I forgot to. This is actually a rewrite of an older story I posted on here a couple of years ago-only, I never got past chapter one. Now I have a lot of ideas for it, and I'd love to hear what you guys think. Reviews are always appreciated, and thanks for reading! **

"Transfiguration?" Ever mumbled to herself, staring at the first year schedule posted on the bulletin board in the common room.

"It's when you turn something into something else." She looked up at the red head- Charlie, the prefect, the oldest brother, she remembered.

"Into something else?"

"Yeah. Like beetles to buttons or hay to needles."

"Doesn't that hurt the beetles?" The older boy paused, perplexed; apparently he'd never thought to ask himself the question.

"I dunno. You'll have to ask McGonagall about that, mate." She could feel her cheeks flushing a light pink. Mate?

"You're muggle born?" Ever glanced back over her shoulder, toward the staircases, where the Weasley twins stood, bags flung over their shoulders, eyes bright and excited. The girl ducked her head, nodding.

"Hey now," Charlie began, "it's nothing to be ashamed of-"

"Do you really have a purple tongue?" one of the boys asked.

"What? No-"

"How about webbed toes?" the other twin- she wished she knew which was which- fired off immediately.

"Of course not-"

"Prove it!"

"Yeah, let us see your feet, then!"

"Boys!" Charlie said sharply, leveling them with a glare that- though the hint of a sly smile didn't disappear from the corners of their mouths- they did fall silent. "She's muggle born. Not an alien. That's enough."

"We were just curious," said the twin on the right.

"Fred," his older brother interrupted. The first year boy blinked back, looking mildly surprised.

"How did you know he was Fred?" Ever whispered, tightening her grip on her school bag's strap." "Lucky guess," Charlie muttered back. Out loud, he said, "Class. Now. Don't be late on your first day." The twins saluted in mock obedience, and, much to Ever's surprise, each hooked an arm through hers and dutifully led her toward the portrait hole.

"Oh, and Ever?" The trio paused, and the girl glanced back. Charlie smiled at her warmly. "Don't forget to ask McGonagall, alright? You've got me curious." She bit down on her lip, nodding. At the twins' questioning glances, Ever only smiled shyly and shook her head.


End file.
